Women Who Run with the Wolves is a collection of myths and stories venerating the Wild Woman–the powerful, instinctive nature that lives within every woman. Collected over a lifetime from around the world, and especially from the author’s Latina and Eastern European ancestors, the stories teach us that the Wild Woman brings vitality, good instincts, and creative fire to the female soul. Through the characters and archetypal symbolism, Estes teaches women how to nourish the Wild Woman in order to avoid falling victim to an over-civilized culture and other predators both external to and within our own psyches.
In contrast to the watered down, Christianized fairy tales of modern times, these stories are dark and messy. Each one, combined with commentary, reveals insight into topics such as romantic relationships rooted in soul-craving, seeing through illusion, finding people we belong to, embracing the Life/Death/Life cycle, and how to live in a way that honors the untamed criatura within each of us.
I hope that all of the women I love will read this one for the spiritual healing it can bring at any stage of their post-adolescent life. I suspect that different chapters will speak to women at different points in their journey, and I plan to read it multiple times!
“The balanced valuing of emotion is certainly an act of self-respect. Even raw and messy emotions can be understood as a form of light, crackling and bursting with energy. We can use the light of rage in a positive way, in order to see into places we cannot usually see.”
“The human being was a happy creature, but he created a hard world and now struggles trying to break out of it.”
ode to shelf-care 